Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus-chloramphenicol Acetyltransferase Research Articles

Effects of PB190 and PB212, new σ receptor ligands, on glucocorticoid receptor-mediated gene transcription in LMCAT cells

The hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis is often observed in patients with major depression. It has even been implicated in the pathophysiology of this disease. Some antidepressant drugs (ADs) inhibit glucocorticoid receptor (GR) function under in vitro conditions. The σ1 receptor agonists reveal potential antidepressant activity in animals, moreover, igmesine is promising as an AD in humans. As already shown, σ receptors are involved in stress-induced responses (e.g., conditioned fear stress in mice). The aim of the present study was to find out whether the new selective σ receptor ligands, PB190 and PB212, are able to affect directly the endocrine system activity. To this end, we evaluated their influence on GR function in mouse fibroblast cells (L929), stably transfected with mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (MMTV-CAT) plasmid (LMCAT cells). Fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, recognized as a σ1 receptor agonist was used for comparison. The obtained results showed that both PB190 and PB212 (potential σ1 receptor agonist and antagonist, respectively) like fluvoxamine, decreased the corticosterone-induced CAT activity in a concentration-dependent manner. The significance of this fact remains ambiguous and requires further studies.

Regulation of the Dynamics of hsp90 Action on the Glucocorticoid Receptor by Acetylation/Deacetylation of the Chaperone

It is known that inhibition of histone deacetylases (HDACs) leads to acetylation of the abundant protein chaperone hsp90. In a recent study, we have shown that knockdown of HDAC6 by a specific small interfering RNA leads to hyperacetylation of hsp90 and that the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), an established hsp90 "client" protein, is defective in ligand binding, nuclear translocation, and gene activation in HDAC6-deficient cells (Kovacs, J. J., Murphy, P. J. M., Gaillard, S., Zhao, X., Wu, J-T., Nicchitta, C. V., Yoshida, M., Toft, D. O., Pratt, W. B., and Yao, T-P. (2005) Mol. Cell 18, 601-607). Using human embryonic kidney wild-type and HDAC6 (small interfering RNA) knockdown cells transiently expressing the mouse GR, we show here that the intrinsic properties of the receptor protein itself are not affected by HDAC6 knockdown, but the knockdown cytosol has a markedly decreased ability to assemble stable GR.hsp90 heterocomplexes and generate stable steroid binding activity under cell-free conditions. HDAC6 knockdown cytosol has the same ability to carry out dynamic GR.hsp90 heterocomplex assembly as wild-type cytosol. Addition of purified hsp90 to HDAC6 knockdown cytosol restores stable GR.hsp90 heterocomplex assembly to the level of wild-type cytosol. hsp90 from HDAC6 knockdown cytosol has decreased ATP-binding affinity, and it does not assemble stable GR.hsp90 heterocomplexes when it is a component of a purified five-protein assembly system. Incubation of knockdown cell hsp90 with purified HDAC6 converts the hsp90 to wild-type behavior. Thus, acetylation of hsp90 results in dynamic GR.hsp90 heterocomplex assembly/disassembly, and this is manifest in the cell as a approximately 100-fold shift to the right in the steroid dose response for gene activation.

Progesterone and glucocorticoid receptors recruit distinct coactivator complexes and promote distinct patterns of local chromatin modification.

It is well established that steroid receptor function requires interaction with coactivators. However, the mechanisms through which steroid receptors elicit precise assembly of coactivator complexes and the way the steroid activation signal is transduced remain elusive. Using a T47D cell line stably integrated with a mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (MMTV-CAT) reporter, we demonstrate that specific steroid receptors exhibit preferential recruitment of SRC-1 family coactivators, which determines the subsequent recruitment of specific downstream coregulator molecules. Upon ligand treatment, progesterone receptor (PR) interacted preferentially with SRC-1, which recruited CBP and significantly enhanced acetylation at K5 of histone H4. In contrast, activated glucocorticoid receptor (GR) preferentially associated with SRC-2 (TIF-2/GRIP-1), which subsequently recruited pCAF and led to specific modification of histone H3, suggesting that specific coactivators recruit distinct histone acetyltransferases to modulate the transcription of steroid-responsive genes. Loss-of-function experiments further support the predicted roles of SRC-1 and SRC-2 in, respectively, PR- and GR-mediated transcription on the MMTV promoter. This study indicates that differential recruitment of coactivators by nuclear receptors determines the assembly of coactivator complexes on target promoters to mediate specific transcription signals.

Lack of androgen receptor transcriptional activity in human keratinocytes

Since detection of androgen receptor ( AR) expression in keratinocytes by immunostaining is controversial, we investigated whether keratinocytes can act as androgen target cells using transient transfection assays. Chloramphenicol acetyltransferase ( CAT) assays for the endogenous AR transcriptional activity in HaCaT keratinocytes indicated that DHT (10 −9–10 −8 M) can induce less than 1.5-fold of mouse mammary tumor virus CAT, which is quite low, compared with 38-fold induction by 10 −7 M 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 3 of P450cc24- CAT. Furthermore, this low DHT-mediated induction could not be enhanced by the AR co-activators, ARA70 or ARA55. Western blotting analysis indicated that HaCaT and normal keratinocytes do not express AR protein. Transfection of exogenous AR into HaCaT keratinocytes, however, could install AR transcriptional activity, suggesting that HaCaT keratinocytes have all the necessary accessory factors for AR transcription activity. In conclusion, keratinocytes are unlikely to be target cells for androgen.

Steroid-independent translocation of the glucocorticoid receptor by the antidepressant desipramine.

The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a ligand-regulated transcription factor that in its unactivated form resides primarily in the cytoplasm. After being bound by steroid, the GR undergoes a conformational change and translocates to the nucleus, where it influences gene transcription. Because the GR mediates negative feedback exerted by circulating glucocorticoid hormones on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, it has been hypothesized that abnormalities in GR expression and/or function may underlie the HPA axis hyperactivity described in patients with major depression. In further support of this hypothesis, animal studies have shown that long term in vivo treatment with antidepressants enhances glucocorticoid feedback inhibition, possibly through a direct effect on the GR. To examine this latter possibility, we evaluated translocation of the GR from the cytoplasm to the nucleus after 24-hr in vitro treatment of L929 cells (mouse fibroblasts) with the tricyclic antidepressant desipramine (0.1-10 microM) in the presence or absence of the synthetic steroid dexamethasone. In addition, GR-mediated gene transcription was measured with the use of L929 cells stably transfected with the mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene. Desipramine was found to (i) induce GR translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus in the absence of steroids (with no effect alone on GR-mediated gene transcription) and (ii) potentiate dexamethasone-induced GR translocation and dexamethasone-induced GR-mediated gene transcription. Treatment with desipramine for 24-96 hr had no effect on the expression of GR protein as measured by cytosolic radioligand receptor binding. We suggest that one important aspect of the effects of antidepressants in vivo may be to facilitate GR-mediated feedback inhibition on the HPA axis, by facilitating GR translocation and function, and thereby reverse glucocorticoid hypersecretion in depression.

GRIP1, a novel mouse protein that serves as a transcriptional coactivator in yeast for the hormone binding domains of steroid receptors.

The yeast two-hybrid system was used to isolate a clone from a 17-day-old mouse embryo cDNA library that codes for a novel 812-aa long protein fragment, glucocorticoid receptor-interacting protein 1 (GRIP1), that can interact with the hormone binding domain (HBD) of the glucocorticoid receptor. In the yeast two-hybrid system and in vitro, GRIP1 interacted with the HBDs of the glucocorticoid, estrogen, and androgen receptors in a hormone-regulated manner. When fused to the DNA binding domain of a heterologous protein, the GRIP1 fragment activated a reporter gene containing a suitable enhancer site in yeast cells and in mammalian cells, indicating that GRIP1 contains a transcriptional activation domain. Overexpression of the GRIP1 fragment in mammalian cells interfered with hormone-regulated expression of mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene and constitutive expression of cytomegalovirus-beta-galactosidase reporter gene, but not constitutive expression from a tRNA gene promoter. This selective squelching activity suggests that GRIM can interact with an essential component of the RNA polymerase II transcription machinery. Finally, while a steroid receptor HBD fused with a GAL4 DNA binding domain did not, by itself, activate transcription of a reporter gene in yeast, coexpression of this fusion protein with GRIP1 strongly activated the reporter gene. Thus, in yeast, GRIP1 can serve as a coactivator, potentiating the transactivation functions in steroid receptor HBDs, possibly by acting as a bridge between HBDs of the receptors and the basal transcription machinery.

In vivo evidence for the generation of a glucocorticoid receptor-heat shock protein-90 complex incapable of binding hormone by the calmodulin antagonist phenoxybenzamine.

The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a ligand-regulated transcription factor whose ability to bind hormone is thought to be dependent on association with the 90-kDa heat shock protein (hsp90). In the present study, we have generated a novel form of the GR, in which the receptor remains complexed to hsp90 but has lost its ability to bind hormone, by treatment of intact cells with the calmodulin (CaM) antagonist phenoxybenzamine (POBA). Treatment of these cells, mouse L929 cells stably transfected with the mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (MMTV-CAT) reporter construct, with increasing concentrations of POBA resulted in a concentration-dependent inhibition of dexamethasone (Dex)-induced CAT gene expression, with 100 microM POBA resulting in approximately 80% inhibition. This inhibitory effect of POBA was markedly reduced if POBA was added after a short incubation with Dex, suggesting that the primary effect of POBA was on hormone-induced transformation of the GR. Using a subcellular fractionation technique, POBA inhibition of CAT gene expression was found to correlate with an inhibition of Dex-induced GR nuclear translocation. However, inhibition of translocation was not the primary effect of POBA on the GR signal pathway, as POBA was found to reduce GR hormone-binding capacity after treatment of intact cells. The inhibitory effect of POBA on hormone-binding function correlated closely with the inhibitory effect of this drug on CAT gene expression and was not due to an oxidation of sulfhydryl groups, a condition known to reduce GR hormone-binding capacity. Incubation of cytosols from untreated cells with POBA did not decrease GR steroid-binding capacity, demonstrating that this inhibitory effect was not the result of a competitive antagonism at the ligand-binding site. Quantitation of GR protein in the cytosols of POBA-treated cells revealed that the decrease in steroid-binding function was not due to a loss of GR protein. Surprisingly, the amount of GR-bound hsp90 was also unaltered in response to POBA. Taken together, the above observations provide evidence for a novel state of the GR within intact cells in which hsp90 interaction is but one step in the generation or maintenance of hormone-competent receptors. In addition, these results point to the potential use of POBA, and possibly other CaM inhibitors, as antagonists of steroid receptor actions.

Cysteines 638 and 665 in the hormone binding domain of human glucocorticoid receptor define the specificity to glucocorticoids.

To understand the function of cysteines, we have substituted cysteines 638, 643, and 665 by serine in the hormone-binding domain (HBD) of the human glucocorticoid receptor (hGR). In hormone-binding assays using [3H]dexamethasone, hGR C643S and hGR C665S exhibited wild type receptor Kd of 2.5 nM and hGR C665SM666L displayed a Kd of 3.7 nM, while hGR C638S exhibited a Kd of 162 pM, a 15-fold higher affinity. The affinity of hGR C638S for RU486 was 10-fold higher, and the mutants C643S and C665S bound RU486 with a 10-fold lower affinity when compared to wild type GR. While C665S bound aldosterone with very high relative affinity, the double mutant C665SM666L failed to bind aldosterone. The expression of wild type, mutant, and truncated hGRs in vitro showed an identical level of expression of the cloned receptors. Similar levels of expression of the receptors were observed in transfected cells, both by immunoprecipitation and by Western blotting. Transcription activation of the chimeric reporter gene mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (MMTV-CAT) with hGR C638S was 4-fold higher than the level observed with wild type hGR in the presence of dexamethasone. In the presence of RU486, hGR C638S induced MMTV-CAT 25-fold compared to the highest levels observed with wild type hGR and RU486. Even though the hGR C665S stimulated transcription with aldosterone, hGR C665SM666L did not. DNA-receptor interaction analyses by gel mobility shift assay demonstrated that the increased transactivation potential of hGR C638S was due to its intense interaction with DNA. These findings suggest that C638 and C665 are involved in maintaining specificity to glucocorticoids.

Glucocorticoid receptor structure and function in an adrenocorticotropin-secreting small cell lung cancer.

ACTH secretion by tumors of nonpituitary origin is characteristically resistant to negative feedback regulation by glucocorticoids. One possible mechanism for the phenomenon could be a structural defect in the intracellular glucocorticoid receptor (GR). We studied the GR in DMS-79 cells derived from a human ACTH-secreting small cell lung cancer. Compared with control cells, DMS-79 cells were found to have greatly diminished GR ligand-binding activity and immunoreactive 94-kilodalton (kDa) GR content. Northern blot analysis revealed expression of GR transcripts that appeared to be slightly larger than those in control cells. A DMS-79 cell GR cDNA was cloned by reverse transcription/polymerase chain reaction amplification of mRNA using primers specific for full-length normal GR. The derived sequence of this full-length GR differed from the reported sequence by a single altered codon (G to A; Asn to Ser at codon 363) outside the steroid-binding domain. This N363S DMS-79 GR functioned normally to activate a target gene [mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (MMTV-CAT)] in transient transfection experiments in COS cells. Evidence for expression of a second type of GR mRNA was obtained by screening a DMS-79 cell cDNA library. This GR cDNA contained normal GR sequence up to nucleotide 2155, corresponding exactly to the end of exon 7 in the normal GR gene. The sequence appended to the GR sequences was not matched by any known sequence in DNA databases and included an in-frame termination codon after only 6 bases. The predicted truncated GR protein product (GR delta) has a mol wt of 73,740 and lacks most of the ligand-binding domain. Transient transfection of the GR delta form into COS cells did not reveal any dominant negative effect on the function of a cotransfected normal GR.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cyclosporin A potentiates the dexamethasone-induced mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity in LMCAT cells: a possible role for different heat shock protein-binding immunophilins in glucocorticosteroid receptor-mediated gene expression.

As previously observed for FK506, we report here that cyclosporin A (CsA) treatment of mouse fibroblast cells stably transfected with the mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (MMTV-CAT) reporter plasmid (LMCAT cells) results in potentiation of dexamethasone (Dex)-induced CAT gene expression. Potentiation by CsA is observed in cells treated with 10-100 nM Dex but not in cells treated with 1 microM Dex, a concentration of hormone which results in maximum CAT activity. At 10 nM Dex, 1-5 microM CsA provokes an approximately 50-fold increase in CAT gene transcription, compared with transcription induced by Dex alone. No induction of CAT gene expression is observed in cells treated with CsA or FK506 in the absence of Dex. The antisteroid RU 486 abolishes effects obtained in the presence of Dex. Using a series of CsA, as well as FK506, analogs, including some devoid of calcineurin phosphatase inhibition activity, we conclude that the potentiation effects of these drugs on Dex-induced CAT gene expression in LMCAT cells do not occur through a calcineurin-mediated pathway. Western-blotting experiments following immunoprecipitation of glucocorticosteroid receptor (GR) complexes resulted in coprecipitation of GR, heat shock protein hsp90 and two immunophilins: the FK506-binding protein FKBP59 and the CsA-binding protein cyclophilin 40 (CYP40). Two separate immunophilin-hsp90 complexes are present in LMCAT cells: one containing CYP40-hsp90, the other FKBP59-hsp90. Thus, both FKBP59 and CYP40 can be classified as hsp-binding immunophilins, and their possible involvement as targets of immunosuppressants potentiating the GR-mediated transcriptional activity is discussed.

Hormone-independent repression of AP-1-inducible collagenase promoter activity by glucocorticoid receptors.

The role of the ligand in glucocorticoid receptor-mediated transactivation and transrepression of gene expression was investigated. Half-maximal transactivation of a mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene in transfected cells expressing the human glucocorticoid receptor mutant GRL753F, from which the rate of ligand dissociation is four to five times higher than the rate of dissociation from normal receptors, required a 200- to 300-fold-higher concentration of dexamethasone than was required in cells expressing the normal receptor. Immunocytochemical analysis demonstrated that this difference was not the result of a failure of the mutant receptor to accumulate in the nucleus after steroid treatment. In contrast, in cells cotransfected with a reporter gene containing the AP-1-inducible collagenase gene promoter, the concentration of dexamethasone required for 50% transrepression was the same for mutant and normal receptors. Efficient receptor-mediated transrepression was also observed with the double mutant GRL753F/C421Y, in which the first cysteine residue of the proximal zinc finger has been replaced by tyrosine, indicating that neither retention of the ligand nor direct binding of the receptor to DNA is required. RU38486 behaved as a full agonist with respect to transrepression. In addition, receptor-dependent transrepression, but not transactivation, was observed in transfected cells after heat shock in the absence of the ligand. Taken together, these results suggest that unlike transactivation, transrepression of AP-1 activity by the nuclear glucocorticoid receptor is ligand independent.

Hormone binding domain of human glucocorticoid receptor. Enhancement of transactivation function by substitution mutants M565R and A573Q.

To determine the importance of specific amino acids in the hormone-binding domain of the human glucocorticoid receptor (hGR), we have generated mutants M565R, G567A, and A573Q. In hormone binding assays using [3H]cortisol, half-maximal saturation of dexamethasone competition was achieved at 10 pM with hGR M565R and hGRA573Q compared to 10 nM with wild type hGR. Similar results were obtained in competition assays with [3H]dexamethasone and the glucocorticoid antagonist RU 486. The substitution mutants M565R and A573Q demonstrated a higher relative affinity for aldosterone compared to the wild type hGR. In CV-1 cells cotransfected with the mutant receptors, hGR M565R and A573Q showed a remarkable 6-fold elevated transcription activation of the chimeric reporter gene mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyl-transferase (MMTV-CAT). The mutant hGR G567A failed to bind agonists and antagonists efficiently. Immunoblotting with hGR specific antibodies of the whole cell extract from transfected CV-1 cells revealed that these differences in hormone binding and transcription activation were not due to the decreased levels of expression. These data support that idea that Gly567 in the hGR hormone-binding domain lies in a region crucial to ligand binding and transactivation function.

Potentiation of glucocorticoid receptor-mediated gene expression by heat and chemical shock.

We have examined the effects of heat shock on glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-mediated gene transcription in an L929 cell line derivative (LMCAT2) stably transfected with the mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (MMTV-CAT) reporter plasmid. Exposure of the LMCAT2 cells to heat or chemical shock resulted in a large increase in dexamethasone (Dex)-induced expression of CAT enzyme activity. This potentiation of hormone-induced MMTV-CAT expression was dependent on the magnitude of the stress event and on the Dex concentration, with maximal increases observed for 1 microM Dex after 2 h at 43 C or 2 h at 200 microM sodium arsenite. Heat shock potentiation of MMTV-CAT expression was not seen in an L929 cell derivative devoid of GR or in LMCAT2 cells treated with RU486 antagonist, suggesting that this effect of stress on CAT gene expression was mediated by the GR. Using a quantitative Western blot procedure, the amount of GR protein in the nucleus of cells subjected to combined heat shock and Dex treatment was no greater than the amount of nuclear GR in cells treated with hormone alone, indicating that the stress potentiation effect was not the result of increased nuclear translocation or retention by the GR. In addition, equally strong potentiations of MMTV-CAT expression were observed for cells subjected to heat shock either before or after Dex-mediated translocation of the GR to the nucleus. Thus, the major effect of stress on GR transcription enhancement activity appears to occur after the GR is bound to its high affinity nuclear acceptor sites. We have used a series of MMTV-CAT reporter constructs containing varying portions of the long terminal repeat regulatory region to show that a putative heat shock transcription factor-binding sequence at position -437 of the long terminal repeat is not required for this effect of heat shock on MMTV-CAT expression. A stress-induced increase in hormone-mediated CAT gene expression was observed for a minimal CAT reporter controlled by two synthetic glucocorticoid response elements and a TATA box sequence. Thus, it is unlikely that any DNA-binding transcription factor, other than GR, is required for this effect of stress on transcription by the hormone-bound GR. Based on these results, a model of heat shock enhancement of GR-mediated gene expression is developed in which stress acts on the DNA-bound GR, on a putative heat shock-activated adaptor, or on components of the RNA-polymerase-II complex.

Transcription activation of mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase: a model to study the metabolism of cortisol.

The human 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (h11 beta-HSD) inactivates the active corticosteroid cortisol to its inactive metabolite cortisone. We have developed transactivation analyses of the reporter chimeric gene mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (MMTV-CAT) to study the catalytic activity of h11 beta-HSD introduced by cotransfection into receptor and 11 beta-HSD deficient CV-1 cells. Assay of 11 beta-HSD expressed in CV-1 cells by cotransfection showed that the catalyzed dehydrogenation of cortisol to cortisone was 2-fold higher in the presence of NADP. The reductase activity was dependent on the coenzyme NADPH. The addition of increasing concentrations of the inhibitor carbenoxolone (CBX) in the incubates blocked the enzyme activity in a dose dependent fashion. In CV-1 cells cotransfected with expression vectors of either human glucocorticoid (hGR1-777) or mineralocorticoid (hMR1-984) and the reporter plasmid MMTV-CAT, dexamethasone (DEX), aldosterone (ALDO), cortisol, and corticosterone induction of CAT activity was dose dependent. Cotransfection of CV-1 cells transfected with 10 micrograms of 11 beta-HSD expression vector reduced the transactivation of MMTV-CAT by hGR or hMR in the presence of either cortisol or corticosterone to basal values. The concomitant addition of 100 nM cortisone and 1 microM NADPH to these transfectants elevated CAT activity. These data show that transactivation analyses can be used to study the 11 beta-HSD-catalyzed regulation of corticosteroid levels, which triggers physiological processes and in certain cases provides an alternative to animal experimentation.

The progesterone antagonist RU486 acquires agonist activity upon stimulation of cAMP signaling pathways.

The protein kinase A stimulator cAMP can potentiate the ability of progestins to induce the transactivation function of the human progesterone receptor (hPR). We questioned in the present study whether cAMP could functionally cooperate with the progestin antagonist RU486. In T47D human breast cancer cells, RU486 behaves as a pure antagonist with respect to induction of the progesterone-responsive mouse mammary tumor virus chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (MMTV-CAT) reporter gene. It fails to stimulate MMTV-CAT expression and completely inhibits induction by the synthetic progestin R5020. However, when RU486 is combined with 8-bromoadenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (8-Br-cAMP), MMTV-CAT is induced to levels approaching that stimulated by R5020 alone. Also, RU486 in the presence of 8-Br-cAMP is only partially effective in antagonizing R5020 action. The agonist activity exhibited under these conditions appears to be due to RU486 acting through hPR as evidenced by the fact that 8-Br-cAMP alone has no effect on MMTV-CAT, whereas induction by the combination of 8-Br-cAMP and RU486 is dose responsive to RU486 in a saturable manner and can be inhibited by the type I antiprogestin (prevents hPR-DNA binding) ZK98299, which does not exhibit positive functional cooperation with cAMP. Acquisition of agonist activity in the presence of 8-Br-cAMP also extends to the type II antiprogestin (permits hPR-DNA binding) ZK112993. Since RU486 is also a type II antagonist, these results suggest that detection of functional synergism between cAMP and antiprogestins may require binding of the hPR-antagonist complex to DNA. We propose that cross-talk between second messenger and steroid receptor signal transduction pathways may be one mechanism for resistance to steroid antagonists that frequently develops in breast cancer.

Effects of hormone and cellular modulators of protein phosphorylation on transcriptional activity, DNA binding, and phosphorylation of human progesterone receptors.

Human progesterone receptors (PR) in T47D breast cancer cells are synthesized as two different sized proteins, PR-A [94 kilodaltons (kDa)] and PR-B (120 kDa). Progestin addition to cells (in vivo) causes a 2-fold increase in total phosphorylation of PR and an increase in the apparent mol wt of both PR-A and PR-B on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-gels. Time-course experiments showed that increased PR phosphorylation that results from hormone addition is a multistep process and involves a rapid increase into total 32P labeling that takes place before the more slowly occurring phosphorylation(s) responsible for the change in electrophoretic mobility of PR on SDS-gels. As an approach to test whether phosphorylation is involved in regulating PR activity, we have examined the effects of cellular modulators of protein phosphorylation on PR-mediated target gene transcription in vivo using a T47D cloned cell line containing a stably transfected mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase construct. Treatment with 8-bromo-cAMP (activator of cAMP-dependent protein kinases) or okadaic acid (protein phosphatase-1 and -2A inhibitor) did not stimulate target gene expression in the absence of progestin. When added together with progestin, either compound augmented PR-mediated target gene transcription by 3- to 4-fold. The cyclic nucleotide-dependent protein kinase inhibitor H8 completely blocked target gene responsiveness to hormone. Neither 8-bromo-cAMP, okadaic acid, nor H8 altered the hormone- or DNA-binding activities of PR, as measured in vitro or affected cellular concentrations of PR. These agents, therefore, appeared to selectively modulate PR transcriptional activity. Moreover, none of these compounds altered expression from a control reporter gene, pSV2CAT, indicating that these agents affect PR-mediated processes directly and are not acting through a general effect on transcription. Effects on PR phosphorylation were assessed by measuring 32P labeling of PR in vivo. None of these treatments had a substantial effect on the extent of total 32P labeling of immune isolated PR or on the phosphorylation(s) responsible for PR up-shifts on SDS-gels. This suggests that these agents modulate PR transcriptional activity either through phosphorylation of another protein intimately involved in PR-mediated transcription or through modification of a key site(s) not measurable as a change in total PR phosphorylation or electrophoretic mobility on SDS gels.